Mophead



Jan. 23, 1945.

L. C. OSBORNE ETAL MOP HEAD Filed May 21, 1943 INVENTORS &

Patented Jan. 23, 1945 I MOPHEAD .Lester Clark Fall River Mass. andFrank E. Hoffman, New York, Nay; s

Application May 21, 1943, ser l n szsvefl 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a mop head.

It is usual in the construction of a mop head to utilize jaws forclamping a mop element formed of metal with some sort of toggle-actionor spring-clamping means for holding the jaws in assembled position,

One of the objects of this invention is to eliminate the necessity ofusing any metal parts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mop head formed of Woodwhich when wet will so swell as to more firmly bind the parts inassembled relation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple constructionwhich may be inexpensively provided and quickly assembled.

' Another object of this invention is to provide a construction whichcan be made wholly of wood and strings or some flexible element suitablymanipulated about clamping jaws.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the mop head assembled and with thehandle broken off;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the two clamping jawswith the mop element removed and with the strands incompletely fastenedin position;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the center portion of the mop element;

Fig. 4 is a central longitudinally sectional View of the arrangementshown in Fig. 1 and showing more particularly the manner of arrangingthe binding strands.

In proceeding with this invention we provide two wooden clamping jawsand slot the same at their ends. The slots are usually centrally locatedso as to register one with the other. Two flexible strands knotted attheir ends are then used to fasten the jaws in assembled relation tobind the mop element in position. These strands are led through theslots of the jaws at one end and then across and through the slots ofthe jaws at the other end for suitable fastening. The knots in the endsof the strands prevent them from drawing through the slots.

With reference more particularly to the drawing l0 designates one jawand the other jaw of the mop head. The jaw I0 is centrally slotted as atl2 and I3 at its opposite ends While the jaw H is similarly slotted asat M and I5 at its opposite ends. The under surface of the jaw H1 isconcave as shown at l6 while the upper surface offthe jaw is convex asdesignated at H. The arcs of these two surfaces are along radii ofsubstantially the same dimension.

The jaw Ill has a threaded opening as at 32 and a handle 33 threaded asat 34 is screwed into this opening,

The mop element designated generally l8 consists of a plurality ofrope-like strands l9 having a band 20 extending about their centralportions to bind them in assembled relation. This band also serves todesignate a convenient location for binding the mop element between thejaws.

The mop element I8 is laid with its band 20 located between the jaws Hiand II and these jaws are brought up firmly on the opposite sides ofthis mop element and against the band 2|]. A binding strand 2| having aknot 22 is positioned with its knot 22 drawn up snugly against theunderside of the slot M of the jaw II and extended upwardly through theslot l4 and then swung into the slot |2 of the jaw l0. At the oppositeside the strand 23 having a knot 24 is positioned with its knot 24against the under side of the slot I5 and extends up through the slotI5. This strand 23 is then swung into the slot l3 and extends upwardlytherethrough similarly to that shown in Fig. 2. The sizes of the strands2| and 23 are such that they will fit tightly in the equal width slotsand the walls of the slots will bind against the strands which will beheld under compression. The strands are each then further fastened asfollows; for instance strand 2| is extended across the length of the jawID on one side of handle 33 and beneath the strand 23 as shown at 25 andis then moved into the slot |3 as at 26 (see Fig. 4) and then into slotI5 and around the portion 21 of the jaw II and thence again down throughthe slot I5 as shown at 28. Similarly the strand 23 is led across thejaw H) on the other side of handle 33 down through the I slots l2 and I4as at 29 and then around the portion 30 of the jaw H and again downthrough the slot M as at 3|. This arrangement provides a very firmlocking of the two jaws together and in case that swelling occurs ofthese wooden jaws these strands will be bound more firmly in position.Likewise the strands themselves may swell and serve to cause binding ofthe jaws in a firm and fixed relation even though they do not swell ordecrease their slot opening.

We claim:

1. A mop head comprising a pair of rigid jaw members each having a slotat each end portion thereof and with the slots of one jaw member alignedwith the slots of the other jaw member,

a mop element between said jaw members and means to bind the members infirm engagement with the mop element said means consisting of at leasttwo flexible strands each knotted at one end portion to prevent it frombeing drawn through a slot and each of said two strands extending fromthe knotted portion through the slots of the members at one of theirends and then along the jaws towards each other through the slots at theopposite ends of the members and each wound about a portion of the lastjaw engaged by said strands and doubly wound through the slot of thesaid last engaged jaw said knotted portions being positioned in saidslots at opposite ends of said jaw members.

2. A mop head comprising a pair of rigid jaw members each having a slotat each end p r on thereof and with the slots of one jaw member alignedwith the slots of the other jaw member, a mop element between said Jawmembers and means to bind the members in firm engagement with the mopelement, said means consisting of at least two flexible strands eachknotted at one end portion to prevent it from being drawn through a slotand each of said two strands extending from the knotted portion throughthe slots of the members at one of their ends and then along the jawstowards each other through the slots at the opposite ends of themembers, said slots and strands being so relatively sized that eachstrand will engage the side walls of the slot in which it is positionedwith sumcient friction to be bound in the slot.

LESTER C. OSBORNE. FRANK E. HOFFMAN.

